Wolves unveil plans for new training complex

Wolves are set to get a new world class state-of-the-art training ground in a major £50m revamp of Compton Park, it was revealed this afternoon.

The development will also see 788 pupil St Edmunds Catholic School moving down the road to take over the former University of Wolverhampton business school and accommodation block which will be refurbished and added to.

Wolves will expand its existing training facilities to include new £6m complex incorporating indoor and floodlit football pitches on the land where St Edmunds currently stands.

Construction company Redrow Homes, whose boss is Wolves Chairman Steve Morgan, has bought eight acres of land from the university on Compton Park where it plans to build 55 new four and five bedroom homes in a deal that provides much of the funding needed for the ambitious project.

The university is now planning a brand new multi-million pound school of applied sciences and amongst other things will be a base for a brain tumour research centre in the city centre. In addition the £1m Indoor Academy Area at Aldersley Leisure Village which is currently used for training by Wolves Academy players will be given Wolves Community Trust free of charge, allowing young, disadvantaged and disabled people from throughout the city to use it.

The academy will be housed in the extended Compton Park training facility creating an FA Premier League Category 1 Football Academy, complying with its new accreditation system.

The club said: "Our aim is to create a world class facility, giving talented local youngsters the best possible chance to progress, along with providing some community access."

The £50m Compton Park revamp is expected to create 150 construction jobs with work from extra 250 in the supply chain.

Wolves Chairman Steve Morgan said: "This unique proposal has huge benefits for the City of Wolverhampton. It is almost unheard of to see so many parties from the public and private sector collaborating so well together for the benefit of all.

"It is one of the most significant proposals our city has seen for many years and will provide compelling educational, community and economic benefits, not just for the users of Compton Park, but for thousands of people across Wolverhampton.

"The nature of the plans with each development completely independent of the other, means that we have only one very limited window of opportunity to bring these proposals to fruition. We all remain confident and optimistic there is the joint will and impetus, along with the finance already in place, to make these plans a reality."

He maintained the development would not significantly add traffic to the area and insisted that building on the green belt in Compton Park would be handled "sensitively" to the open spaces. The proposal would mean that students at St Edmunds – whose roll is set to increase to 900 in September – would be able to be taught in the existing school until the fresh buildings were completed on the present university site next door.

They already had £7.9m from the Building Schools for the Future programme which will go towards the new £12.9m premises.

The new addition to the Wolves training ground – currently the smallest in the Premier League will cost around £6m.

More stories and reaction in Tuesday's Express & Star.